To this writer it now appears that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s cost cutting action was a decision based on the race and income level of Flint. The reason it has taken nearly two years to act on the issue further guarantees this assumption.

The ruination of the water supply in Flint could have been prevented if rash action had not taken place and a closer analysis had been performed.

“If they [state and federal officials] had just followed the minimum standards under federal law which would have cost just $100 a day, none of these things would have happened – including the high lead in water, the likely Legionella deaths that have occurred, the leaks of the pipes, the economic devastation and the loss of confidence in government that occurred,” Dr. Marc Edwards, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, told RT in an interview. “All of this is traceable back to not following the federal law by the very state employees that were supposed to enforce it.”

When the Flint water supply was diverted from Detroit to the Flint river, it was untreated, and the immediate result was obvious to residents; smell and taste revealed that something had been added to their drinking water supply.

In the summer of 2014 General Motors announced that it would no longer use Flint’s water; it was rusting the automobile company’s parts.

This is what happens when TEA Party politicians implement their policy of governing by austerity. Money cannot be the only focus of the governments of the United States; people must come first.

Why wasn’t the change thoroughly researched before the change? Was it because Flint is not a white, affluent city? Only Governor Snyder knows for sure, but many of must question his intentions.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

Source

Photo Courtesy of DonkeyHotey

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